All of Lou Monte's hit singles on the US pop charts.


1959

(At The) Darktown Strutters Ball (Italian Style) - #12
Somewhere There's A Someone - #21

1956

Roman Guitar - #59

1957

Lazy Mary (Luna Mezza Mare) - #12

1958

The Sheik Of Araby (The Shiek Of Napoli) - #54

1960

Dominick The Donkey (The Italian Christmas Donkey) - #19

1962

Pepino The Italian Mouse - #5

1963

Pepino's Friend Pasquale #78







The End

Unfortunately, Lou's music is largely forgotten today, NJBoy55. He was very popular in my house, not just because he was Italian, but because he was Calabrese. My Dad, who's 82 now, still has all his old vinyl albums. And I have a few cds, as well.

When I was a kid, he used to be on Ed Sullivan once in a while (before your time). But I can't ever find any of the clips on Youtube or online.

Today, he's mostly remembered at Christmastime for "Dominick the Donkey," but he actually had a nice singing voice, too.

Lou was a Jersey Boy, too. Just like you.

I knew some Italians who hated him because they thought he was making fun of them. One of my co-workers saw him in a nightclub using a peanut cart as a prop--he didn't like that at all. But his records got good play on NYC a-m--especially from Joe O'Brien, one of the WMCA "Good Guys." Despite his name, O'Brien was very partial to Italian singers. He gave Jimmy Roselli a tremendous boost.

Yeah, he did kind of stereotype his own people, but I think he did it in a joking way, not to piss people off.